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14 Best and Worst Celebrity National Anthem Performances
You’ll hear the "Star-Spangled Banner" before sporting events and even the fireworks this July 4, but let’s just hope the performer isn’t Roseanne Barr or Hillary Clinton Here’s a look at the very best and worst celebrity renditions of the national anthem.
Roseanne Sets the Bar for Musical Treason
Call it the Titanic of anthem disasters: Roseanne Barr’s 1990 performance at a San Diego Padres game left no note unmolested, no stanza unshrieked, no enemy of America uncomforted. The comedienne even finished it off with a hocked loogie and a groin grab. Who does she think she is, a baseball player?
Whitney Houston, We Will Always Love You
Whitney Houston at the 1991 Super Bowl was so inspiring, such a reminder of what is great about our anthem (and Whitney when she’s not on-camera with Bobby Brown), that it was released as a single and actually hit the charts, reaching No. 20 on the Billboard 100.
Memo to Carl Lewis: Run, Don’t Sing
He may have won nine gold medals, but that doesn’t mean he should be holding a microphone. Not for singing, anyway. At least he tells the booing crowd he’ll “make it up” to them—too bad he didn’t keep that promise.
Hillary Clinton Fails to Recall the ‘Hot Mic’ Rule
You have to sympathize with the secretary of state. Yes, her singing is a bit cringe-inducing, but how well would any of us do if we didn’t know we were being recorded?
Michael Bolton Forgets Lyrics, His Dignity
The Michael Bolton from Office Space would have done a better job than this. Well, maybe not, but at least he would have had the song memorized, a feat one of the biggest recording stars in the world was unable to accomplish.
Marvin Gaye Makes the Anthem a Song by Marvin Gaye
While there was no debate here at The Daily Beast about whether this was a best or a worst, it’s worth recalling that when the late, great R&B genius performed it at 1983 NBA All-Star Game, many at the time called it massacre of the anthem. We call it a masterpiece.
R. Kelly: Only Interesting When Trapped in a Closet
At a 2005 Bernard Hopkins-Jermain Taylor boxing match, R&B star R. Kelly gave a funkified rendition of the anthem that was meant to evoke the aforementioned Marvin Gaye but instead evoked only pity and revulsion as he strangled the song and prodded the crowd to clap—clap!—to the anthem. Couldn’t he just stick to (allegedly) peeing on people?
Christina Aguilera, Not So Dirrty After All
The tiny, soulful diva belted out a top-notch version at a 2005 Penguins-Bruins hockey game, further solidifying Aguilera’s reputation as a chanteuse to be reckoned with.
Taylor Swift’s Down Home Anthem
At the 2008 World Series, country music ingénue Taylor Swift accompanied her simple, sweet, and bluesy interpretation of the anthem on a glittering guitar.
Beyoncé
Beyoncé lays out her phenomenal vocals before the 2004 Super Bowl. Kind of like Janet Jackson lays out her breast during the halftime show, which is probably all anyone remembers from that Super Bowl.
Denise Richards: No Joy, or Pitch, in Mudville
Okay, it’s not the national anthem, but it is the anthem for the national pastime—at least, we think it is. Denise Richards allegedly sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” at a Chicago Cubs game in May 2009, though the normally cheerful song sounded more like an outtake from the Exorcist soundtrack than anything you’d want to hear at a baseball game.
Robert Downey Jr.’s Got Heart and Souls
Proof that not all wannabe rock-star actors suck: Robert Downey Jr.’s crooney version of the anthem in the 1993 movie Heart and Souls.
Kat DeLunacy
Me-ouch—she aimed for Whitney but landed somewhere between R. Kelly and Roseanne. At a September 2008 Dallas Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles football game, Kat DeLuna gave an overwrought, pitchy rendition of the anthem that got the pop tartlet booed by the entire stadium.
Jimi Hendrix Owns It Like No Else, Ever
Woodstock, 1969. The greatest guitarist in rock n’ roll history turns the national anthem into searing, wordless song of protest. God bless America.
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IMHO you left out the best in recent years. The Dixie Chicks at the 2003 Superbowl.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU5AYcAhvyo
It is great because they don't use the occasion to show off their vocal prowess with artsy vocalization, but stick to the "script".
For that matter I believe most performers who vocalize around the true melody are just hidding the fact they can't actually perform it. I.e. it is a very difficult part to sing.
I love that one too! (And I agree with the second statement too!)
I agree with you. Sing the traditional version or don't sing at all.
Umm... you forgot the GREATEST rendition of all.
http://www.break.com/usercontent/2007/9/BORAT-sings-national-anthem-3662 52.html
Come on, guys. Wake up.
Wow, the Dixie Chicks, incredible. Definitely in the top 5.
If you like screaming diva's... here is the reigning queen. It can appear harsh to the ear at first, but if you can get past that it is one of the most powerful (and by that I mean nuclear-powered) performances you'll ever hear. (It's Patti Labelle)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxGK2Shp8po
This is also another performance by a young singer which most of us know well. She has one of the most powerful voices to come on the scene in a very long time. And this version is as good as Whitney/Beyonce. (It's Jennifer Hudson)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE-7YqwZZ4o
And the Queen of Soul... (Miss Aretha Franklin)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jhyxr6gP3eo&feature=related
As Americans we are bless with a truly beautiful national anthem. It is always amazing to hear it done well.
(Or you could say we're cursed, it's wickedly difficult to sing... it requires a large vocal range and moves quickly up and down many runs. If you don't have chops... please don't torture people in public.)
No one will ever beat Marvin Gaye's pure, soulful version of our anthem. Ever. Soft and easy, dare I say it, sexy. No screeching or forcing the pipes to go where they can't. A gift to hear.
Sorry, but Whitney lip-synced her performance. You have to do it live for it to count.
really? That's dissapointing if it's true. But I read it on the internet, so it must be true, right?
What idiot made you believe that?
Everyone pre-records at the Super Bowl! Please reframe from making comments on things you seem to know nothing about!
Marvin Gaye at the NBA All Star game.
Nuff said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRvVzaQ6i8A
Non-singers who try to do it a cappella always get in trouble because they start too high. They forget that it gets a lot higher in the middle...
Absolutely Marvin Gaye, going away, the best. With a spectacular nod to Jimi, on a whole 'nother level.
Hendrix's explosive rendition is a great one. Too bad it was edited down so much here.
Whitney is in a different league. Her's is the best because although her very powerful vocals were on display she was more ethusiastic and patriotic than diva.
Whitney- no doubt about it!
Hands down Whitney Houston sang the best national anthem. Apparently, Beyonce did a great job also.
I hate it when they want to make their own rendition. Just sing it like it suppose to be song. Stop making an ass out of yourself.
That actually wasn't Christina Aguilera's first time singing at Mellon Arena for the Penguins...here's a vid of her doing it in 1992...when she was 11 years old! Her tone is off a touch but boy did she belt it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leTzT3v_mls
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FAITH HILL's is THE BEST rendition of the National Anthem!!!
Important to recall Aretha at the '68 Democratic Convention. Her mistakes were a metaphor for the convention that followed.
How about Smokey Robinson doing is own arrangement at Fenway Park, Game 5 of the 1986 World Series -- certainly one of the best ever...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZUoV_iw0II
I'm partial to Jimi's version, but for those who like to hear an instrumental rendition of the National Anthem, Honorable Mention should go to Bruce Hornsby & Branford Marsalis (another one played at the NBA All-Star Game)
As a Canadian and a musician, I have to say "The Star Spangled Banner" is the best anthem I've heard. Like most people around the world extreme patriotism makes me nervous because it's often used to rally nations to war, but that song when sung well never fails to move me.
For singers, it is the most difficult - it covers the most range of any anthem in the world.
Murray - the Dixie Chicks cheated, you can clearly hear they are using auto-pitch technology to correct their notes . The technology hears the notes a few milliseconds before and raises into perfect pitch but leaves artifacts and flat lines the notes in a way that humans can't do. It can be done live with a tiny delay or prerecorded.
Just noticed they are sharing one mic - that means that it can't be live use of the technology, it has to be prerecorded. I've spent hundreds of hours using this technology in my studio - Melodyne and Antares Auto-tune, so I know the sound. This had to have been prerecorded.
Watch the Cactus Cuties on YouTube, and that's what I find to be one of the best.
Thank you.
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